Hawks reported to offer JJ max contract

[lancelet's cousin]

I guess we all saw this coming...

Hot-lanta to the max



A player personnel source in the NBA's Eastern Conference tells us that the Atlanta Hawks not only intend to offer Suns restricted free agent guard Joe Johnson a maximum contract offer on July 22, there are people within the Hawks organization saying they're going to end up getting him.

And a Western Conference source tells us that the Cleveland Cavaliers will turn their attention to Johnson now that Michael Redd has agreed to return to Milwaukee.

That has to be a scary thought to the rest of the NBA, because a 24-year-old Johnson could play Scottie Pippen to the 20-year-old LeBron James' Michael Jordan.

The exact contract could be worth between $68 million and $72 million for a five-year deal, which is what all other teams can offer Johnson.

The Suns could offer around $90 million for six seasons, but we hear the offer they have made is for six years and about $60 million.

That ultimately doesn't matter if the Suns are serious about matching all offers, which they would have seven days to do.

One source told us that most teams are convinced that the Suns will match, but perhaps Atlanta and Cleveland believe that the Suns are bluffing in attempt to get Johnson for less money.

if(ScriptsLoaded) stInit(); However it plays out, if the Suns are going to keep him, they're going to pay a lot more than the $50 million for six years they could have locked him in for last summer.

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[cly2tw]

Cavs are supposed to have a deal for Hughes done. So, this report makes no sense. And if Joe really doesn't believe Suns will match, it'd be interesting to see whether he signs Hawks offer sheet and playing for a team that sucks for the rest of his career.

 

[jandaman]

Atlanta offering max? If true, it will be 70 Million for 5 years. I think the suns will match and offer 70 for 6 years.

The extra year and playing for a good team while only sacrificing little in money should keep him in a suns uniform. Unless he gets deluded and seriously greedy and sign with hawks to be their main player leading them to the lottery in the next 3 seasons. That team is in rebuilding mode with Marvin Wlliams a core in their future plans.

 

[SunsTzu]

It would be pretty stupid for the Hawks to offer JJ the Max(though I won't put it past them). Why would the invest that kind of money in a SG/SF when they have all their best player at those spots?

Al Harrington
Josh Smith
Josh Childress
Marvin Williams
Salim Stoudamire
Boris Diaw

 

[PhxGametime]

In the East that team wouldn't be that bad:

Harrington, J Smith, Johnson, M Williams, Childress, Stoudamire, Diaw, Delk , D Smith, etc.


Johnson could play the PG, along with Stoudamire (Delk perhaps). Johnson, Childress, J Smith, D Smith, Diaw, and M Williams at the wings. Harrington and M Williams and a few more bigs, and that team isn't too bad for the East.

If JJ was on team, I'm sure players like Swift wouldn't mind playing there... the Suns better match though regardless.

Losing Q, JJ, Hunter - for Bell, Finley, and KT the Suns would be lucky to get homecourt, if even that. Teams are improving...

 

[lancelet's cousin]

Cavs are supposed to have a deal for Hughes done. So, this report makes no sense. And if Joe really doesn't believe Suns will match, it'd be interesting to see whether he signs Hawks offer sheet and playing for a team that sucks for the rest of his career.

The deal for Hughes is a rumor from NBAdraft.net. I don't know how reliable that is. But the Hawks struck out in last year's FA class and will take a beating in the media if they do it again. Nobody seems to want to go to the Hawks, so I can see them going after the best available FA (JJ). But they would still need a true PG.

The thing with the Suns is that nobody knows if Sarver has a desire to win at all costs. He has no track record to review (other than missing out on getting JJ on the cheap). We got Q because the Suns knew of Donald Sterling's track record. Similarly, nobody would tie up their money by offering a contract to an RFA of the Mav's if Cuban says he will match. But with Sarver we don't know.

I personally think there is no chance that Sarver won't match. Sterling wouldn't spend money to chase a ring even if he had all the parts in place. I think Sarver would be foolish to buy an NBA team without prior knowledge that someday he would have to overspend if the opportunity to win a title presented itself.

If he doesn't match the JJ offers he will be branded a cheapskate and lose the confidence, and any hope of future earnings, of the ticket holders.

You might be able to get away with what Sterling is doing in the LA market, but you have to have the appearance of at least going for it all if you have a franchise in Phoenix. Most top FA's won't go to a smaller market, all else being equal. But Phoenix is different, as it has a winning culture and not re-signing JJ during such a promising time for the team would be financial long-term suicide, IMO.

JJ will stay. But it might be very expensive-and we might lose some key players in a year or two. But Sarver has to take a shot, or the Suns no longer will be worth $410 million dollars.

 

[HooverDam]

The only reason JJ would sign w/ AtL is to get the Suns to pay him more. Do you really think he (or any big FA) wants to go there right now, I know I wouldnt

 

[SunsTzu]

Guys like Harrington and Williams could get minutes at PF and be successfull. Salim and JJ(Hawks fans also think Diaw can play the point) could have success playing the point at times, but asking those players to play those positions all or most of the time would be a mistake and I wouldn't expect that team to do well(which I guess would fit well with the Hawks).

I'm not worried though I have no doubt JJ will be back.

 

[Ollie]

This offer to JJ make no sense, excepted if Billy Knight is ready to pull the trigger on the rumored trades involving the Hawks, especially for Marbury.

Anyway, I'm almost sure that the Suns will match, for any given amount.

 

[lancelet's cousin]

If I were the Hawks and wanted a top name guy I would be think of the Marbury trade proposals (if they are true).

Not everyone can win a title and I'm not sure the Hawks ever will. But a marquee name would be important to them. Without that they are just the Hawks. When they had Wilkens at least they were something to talk about and brought in fans. They were in no position to get past the Bulls, but they did have a crowd.

They should jump on Marbs.

 

[SirStefan32]

I bet Johnson is praying right about now that Phoenix matches the offer. Atlanta...... EEEEEWWWWWW.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

ARGHHHHHH......this is my worst nightmare......get him signed suns and worry about dealing marion later if money is that big of an issue. Freaking hawks are a garbage franchise so they have to try and ruin it for teams who know what they are doing...........

 

[Griffin]

So far it's just a rumor that the Hawks made a MAX offer. Assuming it is true, before the Suns can match anything, JJ would have to sign the offer sheet first. That would imply he wants to leave (for more money). Assuming JJ wants to stay a Sun, I don't think he would sign the offer sheet. More likely, if he is not happy with the offer the Suns made, they will keep negotiating until they reach an agreement. I think he'd rather get a guaranteed sixth year than more money (per year) over five years, and only Suns can offer that. If he signs an offer sheet elsewhere he is giving up the sixth year even if Suns match.

 

[asudevil83]

I bet Johnson is praying right about now that Phoenix matches the offer. Atlanta...... EEEEEWWWWWW.

JJ has to accept the deal first.

he COULD just look at altanta and say "yeah right".

if atlanta SERIOUSLY wants JJ then i'd try my hardest to work out a S&T with them. Atlanta is looking to drop Harrington, and if they threw in Josh Smith i'd be all over it. it would be like atlanta getting JJ for $6mil instead of $12mil, so they'd have plenty of cap room to make an offer to a few more bigger name FA's.

 

[elindholm]

Atlanta offering max? If true, it will be 70 Million for 5 years. I think the suns will match and offer 70 for 6 years.

It doesn't work that way. If the Suns match the offer, they match the exact contract, including any front-loading or other incentives. If the Hawks give Johnson $70 million over 5 years and the Suns match, his contract with Phoenix will be for $70 million over 5 years.

I bet Johnson is praying right about now that Phoenix matches the offer.

If Johnson doesn't want to play for Atlanta, he doesn't have to sign the contract. He can just go to Phoenix and say "Here's the offer they've given me, what are you going to do about it?" If he's willing to take a slightly smaller offer to stay in Phoenix, he can do that.

if atlanta SERIOUSLY wants JJ then i'd try my hardest to work out a S&T with them.

I think so too. Too bad the Hawks have so little talent. Maybe a third team could get in on the mix. The only thing is, the Hawks have no incentive to agree to a sign-and-trade. Johnson could make it a condition on his agreeing to go to Atlanta, but he'd have to be pretty firm in his resolve. (The advantage for Johnson is that he'd get the sixth year in a sign-and-trade.)

I'm high on Johnson, but I don't think the Suns should match a maximum offer. In fact, I partly suspect that they signed Bell as an insurance policy. Obviously if Johnson leaves, they have room for Finley, and as others have pointed out, that's not a disastrous "trade" for the short-term, especially when you consider the salary savings.

 

[Amare32]

JJ will not sign the offer

no one wants to play for the Hawks. Not even for the Max.

 

[Goldfield]

This team NEEDS JJ. He is a big part of us winning. A deadly shooter, best guy on team that can create his shot. A good passer, solid defender. He really has no weakness.

I would hate to have to max him out but if it comes to that then we have to...

Raja Bell is a good signing but he is no replacment for JJ.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

JJ will not sign the offer

no one wants to play for the Hawks. Not even for the Max.

I think JJ will sign a max offer, if only to force the Suns hand into matching it.

 

[sunsfn]

This deal is beginning to worry me.

The suns have offered JJ a contract a few days ago and he has not signed.

This mornings paper has an article that the Mercury have put put fan favorite Kayte Christiansen on waivers. She was put on the inured list on July 2nd, and the article says they want to free up money to give them flexibility. This is being cheap. The Mercury are probably hurting because they are losing, but they despertly need fans, and cutting a fan favorite is not good business for them at this time.
Maybe some of you do not know that the suns own the Mercury.

I have said before that Sarver is a banker and does not understand the NBA and salaries etc.
If the suns lowballed JJ in hopes of a counter they could agree on that would not be the max, (Banker/Real estate deals) JJ and his agent might have been turned off to that.
Redd received a max contract from the Bucks and there is no doubt that he is an excellent player, and because of him being an unrestricted player the Bucks had to pony up to keep him. However, Redd is more one dimensional than JJ and along those lines JJ is a max player in the NBA. Maybe not the real world, but in the NBA he is, right now today! Sad but true.

You have all seen my rants on the suns not signing JJ last year to the contract he wanted, and that it was going to cost them a lot this year, well they may have put JJ in a position that he is upset and will wait and sign the max contract now.
If Sarver gets his dander up, he may not match, or, he may have to match and then he will trade JJ and that will be a drastic down for the suns organization.

Sarver is maybe not cheap, he is just a dollars and cents guy, and that will get you in trouble when it comes to signing top NBA players.

Last year there were some bad contracts and there will always be. Look at what the owners have come up with this year because they are so dumb when it comes to signing players.........the "Amnesty Rule" to get rid of high salaried players to save themselves from paying the penalty. I am not sure how in the world all the owners would let that deal go through. One would think that most of the owners would say to that, baloney, they signed the bad contract so let them suffer the consequensces. But no, they bailed out teams that are now going to cut players and then improve their teams by signing more players to the veterans exception, unbelievable.

The problem with Sarver not doing the JJ deal, is that he is an excellent young player, he is not Adonal Foyle who is way over paid even at half the max. And, the suns are not one of the teams that are so high in overall salary that they should be thinking of not signing JJ because of the total salary.

Sarver does not know how to play the game and he may never know with his banker mentality, and if he messes around here and gets JJ and his agent in a huff over this he may have no choice but to do a sign and trade.

Hopefully Sarver comes to his senses and this gets worked out and JJ signs with the suns soon, but I am beginning to have my doubts.

I am sure that some of you think JJ is not worth the max, and think that if the suns have to do a sign and trade that would be okay.
That is not the right way to be thinking. Last year the suns were very close to getting to the finals, JJ getting hurt put an end to that. Now granted if Nash or Amare would have been hurt the same results would have happened.
I had my doubts that they could beat the Spurs even if JJ had not been hurt.

But, the suns are very close with this team and just adding about 3 new players that can play, they can go all the way. They have added 2 players, and maybe just need a backup center and then bench players that are easier to get, and they can go all the way. Losing JJ from the equation is going to set this team back, no matter who they would get in a trade. The suns need to keep the chemistry together and that means keeping JJ.


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[sunsfn]

P.S., do you remember when last year Amare said, "I have JJ's back".

Amare realizes the value that JJ brings to this team.

If the suns do not match a max offer on JJ.............?

 

[AsUdUdE]

First let me say this one thing... The Suns absolutly NEED JJ, and losing him would hurt us, period!

However, I have to say this.... Ithe suns do hold th upper hand here.... if Atl wants him so bad, and all the suns have to do is match it, the suns COULD, (with a big emphasis on COULD) think about a S&T.....

If Im Bryan, and Sarver tells me it is too much, I go to ATL, and say I want Harrington, Josh Smith, and Salim Stoudimire for JJ....if Atl balks, match the sheet and move on... if they go for it... the suns could go after Finley.. and have a lineup of this

Nash/ Barbs/Stoudamire
Finley/Bell/JJax
Marion/Smith/JJax
Amare/Harrington
Thomas/Hunter

Certainly not as good without JJ... but its a start.. especially landing Harrington, and Smith who would give us a deep bench, and a solid starting 5....

Again, My A#1 choice is to match any offer... however if that is not the case this would be a 2nd best Scenerio for the suns IMO.....

 

[Chaz]

Atlanta offering max? If true, it will be 70 Million for 5 years. I think the suns will match and offer 70 for 6 years.

It doesn't work that way. If the Suns match the offer, they match the exact contract, including any front-loading or other incentives. If the Hawks give Johnson $70 million over 5 years and the Suns match, his contract with Phoenix will be for $70 million over 5 years.

Assuming Johnson signs the offer sheet.

If the offer is only verbal the Suns could "match" by offering the same of slightly more money over 6 years.

I don't think the Suns would think twice about matching 5 years $70 Million should JJ sign the offer sheet. I think they are probably already prepared to do so, at least I hope they are.

This deal is beginning to worry me.

The suns have offered JJ a contract a few days ago and he has not signed.

He can't sign anything yet anyway. Why would he commit to anything already unless the Suns completely overbid?

 

[sunsfn]

He can't sign anything yet anyway. Why would he commit to anything already unless the Suns completely overbid?

I used a bad choice of words.........but I thought everyone knew that he can commit orally but not sign yet. (Bell contract)

By him not committing orally, at this point we have to take it that he does not agree with what has been offered, right?
I would think that he wants to play for the suns and not someone else, and was hoping they would offer him a contract he could agree to right away.

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[playstation]

regardless, after this summer, jj will no longer be the most unknown player in the suns starting 5. he might even have moved up to #3 over marion.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

JJ will be in a Suns uniform next season. It is that simple.